Some Saskatoon Blades may be guilty of a double-take Tuesday night when they visit the Swift Current Broncos.

No doubt it’ll be somewhat strange to see long-time Blade forward Ryan Graham suddenly playing against them — not for them.

But that’s the way the puck drops in the Western Hockey League, where teams are only allowed to carry three so-called “overage” 20-year-olds on their active roster.

Graham — who was dealt Sunday to the Blades’ East Division opponent — is the newest member of the Swift Current Broncos.

“It’s going to be different playing against him,” admits Blades captain and Graham’s former linemate Wyatt Sloboshan.

“I played on his line a lot of the time — he’s a big guy and he can hit pretty hard so you’ve definitely got to be aware when he’s on the ice.”

Graham had the most seniority of any of the current Blades, playing in what was his fifth season with the club. The 6-foot-1, 204-pound forward — selected by Saskatoon in the fifth round, 91st overall, in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft — amassed 60 goals and 57 assists in 249 games overall.

“When I called Ryan and told him about the deal, I said, ‘we’ll be seeing you in two days’ and he didn’t have any idea, of course, because he was shocked.

“That’s just one of the realities of the trade. I know he’s in our division and that was a consideration, but, at the end of the day, we needed to take the best return for us.”

The Blades secured a second-round draft pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft along with a fourth-round selection in 2018.

“It is going to be different for sure (seeing Graham on the other side),” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “It’s hard, no doubt, when you have to make a deal like that, but, for us, we had the amount of 20-year-olds that we had. Personally, we just felt he needed a new place to play. For him, he’s played here long enough. Maybe he was getting a little bit stale but he’s in a better place right now.”

Swift Current made an offer for Graham that the Blades couldn’t refuse in a deal they believe will be good for everyone involved.

“We wanted to maximize our return and now we have lots of flexibility,” explained Priestner. “We just weren’t getting those picks from anybody else and that was a big reason.

“Now we have two firsts (round picks), two seconds and a third in this draft and we’re open for business to try and improve our team.”

SHYNKARUK’S RETURN FORCES HAND

For the Blades, the return of a healthy Jesse Shynkaruk forced them to part ways with one of their four 20-year-olds.

One of them had to go. The Blades brass decided to keep defenceman Bryton Sayers along with forwards Kolten Olynek and Shynkaruk.

“Yeah, he (Graham) was a bit surprised,” admitted Priestner, “but he was probably more emotional as he’s been here since he was 15 years old. This is the city he considers home, so that way it’s been difficult for him but I think he’s excited for the chance to have a change of scenery and rejuvenate himself.”

Graham gave the Blades the most leverage on the trade front.

“It’s a good move for him,” offered Priestner. “Also we just couldn’t turn down the return. It was the same kind of return that some franchise-type, 100-point players got as 20-year-olds in the past, so to get a second- and a fourth (round pick), that gives us a lot of flexibility.”

Priestner said he hopes the best for Graham, whom he considers to be one of his “favourite” players.

“I told him I hope he becomes the next Jon Martin (San Jose Sharks signee),” offered Priestner. “I hope he goes there and gets a pro contract and he becomes one of those guys who really gets his chance. Sometimes you have to get away from your own surroundings and get away from the same kind of friends and billets that you’ve had since you were 15 years old and you’ve got to go and make it on your own as a 20-year-old man and I hope he does. I hope he starts on Wednesday, to be honest.”

As far as Priestner and the Blades were concerned, a change of scenery may the spark that Graham needs.

“We just weren’t seeing some of the passion and same enthusiasm that he was usually playing with,” said Priestner. “We talked with him a little about it and he felt that, after nearly 4 ½ years, maybe it was time to try another place out to see if he can get his game back in order and we felt the same thing. We love Ryan. He’s a great kid and he’s one of my favourite kids that we’ve had here in the four years and I’ve really grown to really like him and he’s a really good person.

“I think Ryan was a bit surprised but we had spoken with him and his agent. He had kind of informed us that he would be open to a move if there was one. He wasn’t demanding it, or anything, but he was open to it, and once we realized that it was just the best move we could make — obviously, he was the one who would give us the biggest return out of the four and he has more scoring in his pedigree than the others do — it was just a logical move for both sides.”

Swift Current’s associate coach Ryan Smith says they had their eyes on Graham for a couple of years after playing against him.

“He’s been an impact player every game we’ve played against him,” said Smith. “A big strong guy who can skate and shoots the puck well. We think he can help us in a lot of facets. He’s a top-six guy who’s scored 20 goals but he brings more than that to the table. He’s a physical player. He’s got that speed that will put teams on their heels and he’s played a lot of games in this league so he brings a veteran presence. With us being short of 20-year-olds, we had the option to add a couple and we’ve added him. We’re really looking forward to seeing him in a Broncos uniform.”

Puck drops Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Swift Current where Graham will make his Broncos debut.

“It was kind of an eye-opener, playing with him my first couple of years,” Sloboshan says of his former linemate, Graham. “He was obviously a force every time he was on the ice. If he had a big hit, you’d hear it. Playing against him will be really tough, for sure.

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